Medical image processing tasks such as detection, classification, segmentation, and registration are integral parts of image post-processing workstations. When a user has to perform some kind of editing of the results, he/she typically uses the input device (e.g., the mouse or a stylus) to either draw/re-draw contour, or move/drag contours to accomplish the editing task.
In a busy clinical workflow, it is not always possible to perform detailed and tedious editing. For example: in an interventional setting with a sterile environment, it is not always possible to perform editing in a manner similar to the one on a post-processing workstation. Typically, the interventional clinician has access to a joystick controller on the C-arm system to accomplish all his/her tasks without disrupting the workflow. This joystick is not as versatile as the mouse or stylus for editing contours in 2D or 3D. Another example is in the scan room where a technician might want to edit the results of an automatic algorithm (e.g., an “inline” algorithm on a Magnetic Resonance scanner, or a “PACS-ready” algorithm on a Computed Tomography scanner). In such a scenario, the user may not have access to all the advanced editing tools that are typically present on a 3D post-processing workstation. As a result, there is a need for smart editing algorithms that do not require a clinician to use a mouse or a stylus. Additionally, there exists a large amount of inter-user variability when users are given access to free-hand editing tools.
Currently, image editing is typically performed by a user in either a purely manual or a semi-automatic fashion by using an input device such as a computer mouse or a pen/stylus. Such tools are routinely available on all image post-processing workstations. Because this is not always possible in an interventional suite, the user typically has to either instruct a technician to perform these tasks on a workstation that is outside the operating room (e.g., in the control room), or has to disrupt their workflow at the table-side to perform this themselves.